If you have a video – make a film and watch it at home at your leasure

Stick on a killer soundtrack, few slo-mo’s with a build up including you travelling to the house.

even the best blackout blinds let in light

Really?

Visit the house at least three times, at different times of the day and the area/street as often as you can. It’s amazing what you can miss.
Do not trust what the vendor says.
Do not trust the survey report and especially look for weasel phrases like ‘unable to test/verify due to xyz (spoken from bitter recent experience)
As has already been said, it is worth making what might appear to be a cheeky low offer. I didn’t do that on a property I really liked but couldn’t quite afford, as I thought it would be too insulting. Low and behold, 3 months later, it has been reduced to £5k less than I could have happily paid (even more bitter about that one!)

The *most* important thing about a house is who you’re living next to. Good neighbours are underestimated. Massively. But obviously they can change in an instant.

As many have said, visit at different times. Night time on Friday/Saturday. Sunday afternoon. See what people get up to. We have a neighbour who has regular Sunday afternoon barbeques in summer. They play music really, really loud, everyone gets drunk and shouts and swears and if I complain I get threatened by a load of meatheads.

You don’t want that.

If you actually listed all this down you’d be lucky to find a house anywhere… 🙂

Consider what type of lifestyle you realistically want to have – do you want to spend your weekends doing DIY or riding your bike

I would agree with that.

I always think the only reason for DIY hell is if you really *need* a much bigger house than you can afford, so you have to buy a house shaped shell and do it up. It still costs the same or more money, but comes out of your salary after the mortgage, so the banks will let you buy a the house. Houses that are done up typically increase in value for less than the cost of doing them up.

If you actually listed all this down you’d be lucky to find a house anywhere…

Best post so far, and there have been some good posts.
Unless you’re fortunate enough to be a high roller, I’m guessing as a first time buyer finances are going to be stretched (great If not) so compromises are inevitable (though in truth they are whatever your budget)

From experience, when I was younger (and wouldn’t heed the advice of others) I bought a house in a less desirable area, It took me 4 years doing it up, it’s now a nice little 2up/2down that I rent, but its always gonna be in a shitty area 🙁
So I’d go with the often used “worst house, best street” mantra when looking. Project houses can consume your life though, so don’t under estimate how long they take/cost to do.

Street lights out side house are great for security no dark corners to hide in

It reallly doesnt bother me – my blinds and curtain combo turn day into night.

Smells ….. We viewed our house , they ha all windows open . Moved in and it was stinking of fag reek all through.

Tore out all curtains and carpets and all the wall paper – we had planned to anyway but would hve been an expensive mistake otherwise as it was unlivably smelly !

South facing garden +1 makes a big difference in the summer. Can’t believe as well no one’s said check out local trails & bridleways, always nice to be able to ride out from your front door, this is a cycling forum int it?

Don’t believe the vendor. (worth saying again)
We looked at the past prices thing it was very useful when gauging how much movement is possible.
Remember it’s only walls etc. Just because 1 room is set up for something doesn’t mean it can’t be changed.
Check for warranty period on new estates.
If its a new development see how far along they are and are they still building?
Take a mate they can spot things you wont and they can also occupy the vendor/agent while you have a proper look.
Check insurance in new areas (comparison site is easiest)
If you have a mate in the trade take them along.

Get a full house report and like others have said, go over it with a fine tooth comb, take a torch and have a good look in the loft, basement and any nooks and crannies.
If you’re not gonna chap on the neighbour a doors, a good nosey at their gardens from the upstairs is another way to get an idea what they’re like.
No matter how perfect it is, be prepared to walk away. There literally are plenty of fish in the sea!

Don’t be put off by negatives. My house is in a “bad” area. But we get no trouble as the neighbors think we are good people! House stank and was a wreck, which meant we could hold off until our lower offer was accepted. Drove past every other day, rode past, asked around, went to local shops etc.

1 parking space, of your own, per bedroom (Unless it’s very close to somewhere with jobs and transport to those jobs)

New builds can have tragic hot water systems – from now on anything with a tank is a no from me.

Having a shop in walking distance is a massive bonus as far as I’m concerned.

The only thing I really miss is not having a driveway.

Given some of the above posts, I’d say to not get too hung up on fixable problems. It’s better to have somewhere with more space than it is to have a tiny cramped flat that’s beautifully decorated.
Decor/boilers/plumbing/electrics etc. can be fixed. It’s kinda hard to make more space.

I’ve always worked on the principle of going for the best location, usually getting the smaller, scruffier, cheaper houses for the area.

This gives you best shot at good commuter links, good schools, low crime rate (or lively cafe culture, good restaurants etc, whatever floats your boat). Also, cheaper houses in good neighbourhoods are easy to sell on and tend to benefit from market growth first.

But important to get something that you are comfortable living in, like a nicely fitting coat. And always somewhere secure for the bikes etc

Don’t overstretch finacially, the maximum that can be borrowed is not necessarily the same as the maximum that you want to afford. Although, tighter lending rules mean this may be less of an issue that it was before.

surveyors aren’t all they are touted to be. Our made some fairly basic mistakes. Some were not an issue, others were. I would consider asking a reputable builder to look round with me and quote for any work that we saw fit. Couldn’t have done this initially as I didn’t know any good builders.

Original features and character are nice ways of describing old, worn out and obsolete (says someone who spends a fortune on work on a 100 year old house).

Budget for ongoing repairs and maintenance. We probably spend c. 1k a year average. Sometimes nothing sometimes bigger things.

surveyors aren’t all they are touted to be. Our made some fairly basic mistakes. Some were not an issue, others were. I would consider asking a reputable builder to look round with me and quote for any work that we saw fit. Couldn’t have done this initially as I didn’t know any good builders.

Original features and character are nice ways of describing old, worn out and obsolete (says someone who spends a fortune on work on a 100 year old house).

Budget for ongoing repairs and maintenance. We probably spend c. 1k a year average. Sometimes nothing sometimes bigger things.

Old dog – tightened the financial belt i do not believe ……. They were throwing mortgages at me trying to get me to max out with them at a figure at least double what i was comfortable with borrowing !

Dont be affraid of a bit of work no house is ready to move into ….. Even if its just decorating – better to start with a wrecker than a nicely decorated but bogging house . much easier to knock off money for a rundown house than an igly one . Im now at decorating stage having totally renewed the heating system and the electrics in their entirety- not as expensive as you would think but as intrusive as they come – we moved out forthe electrics . Can see why it is advisable to avoid .